Dark and Shattered Lands (DSL) is owned
by Tony Allen under the business name of Allen Games. (located in Amarillo
Texas) The business ownership is for certain legal protections to protect the game code and
areas from potential law suites and to better protect our copyrighted material.
(International business law is also more kind than personal theft lawsuits) The mud is
hosted and maintained by Allen Games in Amarillo Texas. The
current machine is on a AMD Athlon 1.4ghz computer with 768 megs of DDR
PC2100 ram
and a 80 gig hard drive, a 20 gig secondary drive for other functions, and
also a 10 gig backup drive. The machine is directly connected to a T1
circuit based from the Sprint circuit.

Why are you asking for donations?

First of all, I am not asking for
them. Players have always offered and sometimes demanded a way to help
cover the many costs of DSL. Most of those costs, I cannot justify
paying due to having an actual family and many bills all on limited income.
This page has been put together to let you the player know what you can do
to help this mud stay online and in good shape.

Doesn't accepting donations violate the Diku license?

No, it does not. The Diku license states that I am forbidden to make any profit from
their code and profit just simply isn't an issue. Furthermore I have exchanged emails with
them about this and they support the idea of player donations.

You should know that I do have some
disagreements with a couple of the Diku team members. One of them
expressed his discontent that I rewarded players for donating. However, we
all agreed that when I reward players for donating, it does not violate the Diku license since that is in no way making a "profit". Please
click here to read the diku license for yourself.

Please realize that our difference in opinion
does not in any way reflect our rights to running this software and until the
Diku team decides to start paying our expenses, I'll stick to the license
strictly and make personal decisions on any unwritten rule they wish for me to
abide by. In plain and simple English, it is not right for them to come
to me and ask me to abide by their wishes when it is not part of the license.
Especially since we started with a source code that had only incorporated the
basic functions of theirs and has since grown to over 100 times the size they
contributed. We have argued over the issue and some of the Diku founders
are behind my decision 100% while others are not. But we've done our arguing
and have agreed to disagree. However both sides agree that we are in fact
abiding by their written license 100%.

Some people whom had been denied from DSL for
cheating have raised a stink about this from time and even had us added to
some Diku Hall of Shame list. My response to that is "so what." If
those "legal experts" (aka the 15 year old mudder who made the list) knew
anything, they'd realize that blacklisting a written violation of law in every
country in Europe and North America and 90% of all others. Also, I've
asked them to show me where I was violating any license, and was not given a
response. So again, big deal.

How can I help?

Helping is the easy part. You can give monitory donations or $5(US) or more to
help meet expenses. Any amount would be appreciated. Also you should
know there are plenty of other ways to help out. Often there are time
when we need reference materials such as AD&D manuals. Also hardware
such as memory can be donated as well. Books, hardware or tequila is
always welcome s well. :)

Can I still be penalized or denied after contributing?

Absolutely, donating doesn't buy you lewd behavior or a right to cheat. What happens in
the game stays in the game. And donating doesn't give you "get
out of jail free" cards.

Do I have to donate?

Not at all. DSL is and always will be a free mud. We
thank those who help keeping it
running, but we would never demand it. I do not feel you owe the game
money and DSL is not nor does it wish to be a "for profit" mud.

What will my money be used for?

All donations go towards the upkeep and maintenance of the mud. This includes machine
equipment, the Wireless Connection from Scorn's house to the
game's machine for emergencies, domain registration, and all of the miscellaneous costs
that come up for it including repairs and upgrades. We are also now
paying $200 a month for hosting and bandwidth. I would also love
to have certain quests and contests where real prizes may be given away
such as trophies or plaques.

What do I get for donating?

Absolutely nothing, aside from a thank you.
I do try thank people with some hours and/or leftover con cards (given out
at the DSL Convention or New Years parties).
If that is something you want, please be sure to ask for it upon donating.

I donated , but never got a thank you for
it.

Click here to
fill out a form to help me track your donation so I can get you a thank
you.

Who do I make the Check out to?

Tony Allen.

Where can I send my support?

Tony Allen
17701 East St. Francis Ave
Amarillo, Texas 79108

Can I donate by credit card?

Yes, you now can. I have set up a paypal
account much to the urging from one our players in Kosovo. Click on
the button below to donate now. Visa and MasterCard are accepted.